Teenage girls spending more than 5 hours on mobile and tablets are more likely to suffer from depression, experts are warning, that they are more likely to commit suicide.
Psychologists discovered that suicide rates for girls aged 13 to 18 increased by 65% between 2010 and 2015.
Also, the number of girls experiencing so-called suicide-related action, such as thinking about suicide, planning suicide, attempting suicide, no hope, causing suicide, increased by 12%.
The number of teenage girls reporting symptoms of severe depression has increased by 58%.
Psychologists at San Diego State University reported that 48% of the teenagers who spent more than 5 hours per day with electronic devices had at least one suicide-related outcome, whereas who spent less than an hour on the device, only 28%.
Today's children and teenagers spend more time on electronic equipment and avoid relationships with the real world.
Professor Jean Twenge ( Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University) said,
“These increases in mental health issues among teens are very alarming.
“Teens are telling us they are struggling, and we need to take that very seriously.
“When I first saw these sudden increases in mental health issues, I wasn't sure what was causing them.
“But these same surveys ask teens how they spend their leisure time, and between 2010 and 2015, teens increasingly spent more time with screens and less time on other activities.
“That was by far the largest change in their lives during this five-year period, and it's not a good formula for mental health.”
The findings were consistent with previous studies that linked time spent on social media to children's unhappy feeling.
